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Health & Fitness

Hands Down, The Best Meal of The Year!

Reading the posts of the various experts on how to make Thanksgiving a healthy occasion first starts to make me laugh and then I get indignant. Please leave my Thanksgiving alone.

Reading posts by the various experts on how to make Thanksgiving a "healthy occasion" first induces laughter - and then indignation. When the ubiquitous "they" start to vilify my favorite meal of the year; that is where I draw the line.

I say "they" (the experts) can talk about losing weight and getting your seven servings of fruits and vegetables all the other 364 days of the year. In my humble opinion, "they" should just take the day off and leave Thanksgiving alone. Besides, following my three golden rules of healthy eating alleviates the need to worry, even one little bit, about the Thanksgiving feast.

My three golden rules of healthy eating make it easy to feed your body and mind without stress, guilt or all the mumbo jumbo associated with diets and ridiculous eating strategies. I say the simpler you can make it the better your chances are for success. So what are my simple golden rules for success you might ask?

  1. There Are NO Bad Foods
    There are no "good" or "bad" foods. Whoever decided to call this or that food "bad or good" just had no idea what they were talking about. I teach people that they can eat any foods they want as long as the portions and pairings are nutritionally balanced. So yes, that means you can actually have stuffing AND mashed potatoes at that same meal.

  2. Control Your Portions
    Portion control is the single most important golden rule for maintaining a healthy weight. Even if your food selections are poor (not recommended), preventing overeating will allow your waistline to stay in check. Very simply, eat only as much food as your body needs for nutrition and no more.
    Keep in mind that food is NOT a stress management tool. (#1 cause of overeating)

  3. Properly Pair Your Foods
    Food selection and pairing is vitally important to a well nourished body and mind. Your body and mind like foods that include a variety and that are properly paired. Food pairing is a component of variety and ensures that your plate will have multiple colors, textures and types. So turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans and cranberry sauce is a wise food pairing.

 

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So there you have it. Follow my three simple golden rules and I guarantee you will receive much more enjoyment from your meal today. I certainly paln on enjoying mine. Speaking of which... I will be thinking of you as I gnaw on a delicious drumstick. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

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